State relays concerns on Willis Center to law

Brenda Jenkins addresses a Worcester City Council subcommittee today regarding the Henry Lee Willis Community Center.

State officials had “serious concerns” about the financial management of the beleaguered Henry Lee Willis Community Center and have referred the matter to law enforcement authorities.

In a letter sent today to Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Marilyn Anderson Chase, the assistant secretary for children and families at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said those anxieties prompted state regulators to yank about $11 million in contracts to the 30-year-old Worcester-based organization.

Ms. Chase wrote that she could not elaborate on the state's worries because of potential investigations of the Willis Center. An HHS spokesman told the Telegram & Gazette tonight that information about the agency's problems have been sent to law enforcement authorities.

The center is expected to close its doors Wednesday. With the shutdown, 158 full- and part-time employees will lose their jobs.

State officials said most of the contracts held by the center have been transferred to other agencies. In the letter to Mr. Petty, Ms. Chase said state officials will meet with Worcester providers interested in acquiring similar contracts in the future.

The news last month of the Willis Center closing rocked the local African-American community. The organization was established in the 1980s at the behest of local blacks, who said there was a need for a social services agency that could specifically address their wants.

The closing also has infuriated the city's political leadership, with city councilors saying that the state hasn't been forthcoming with enough information.

The City Council had asked the HHS to send a representative to a meeting today of its Public Health and Human Services Committee. The three-member committee, along with many who showed up at the well-attended hearing at City Hall, clearly were not happy when no one from the state agency showed up.

In the letter to Mr. Petty, Ms. Chase, the senior state official involved in the transition of services from the Willis Center, said she could not attend the hearing but gave no reason.

“There are plenty of questions but no answers,” said Councilor Konstantina B. Lukes, chairwoman of the committee.

At another point in the meeting, Mrs. Lukes said the city was “getting the brush-off.”

During the 90 minute hearing, the state also came under fire from residents, clergy and clients of programs offered by the center.

“We're being treated like trash,” said Jo Hart, a Worcester resident. “We need to get this (issue) straightened out.”

Another resident charged that the state was acting “like a dictatorship.”

Terry Kelly of Worcester questioned how the state could close the center, if it hadn't completed any formal investigation. She urged the city to go to court and seek an injunction to keep the Willis Center open.

The Rev. Clyde D. Talley, pastor of Belmont Street AME Zion Church, said the state had shown “a lack of respect” for the community.

He said many nonprofits act more like corporations as they get bigger and forget their social service missions.

Patricia Yancey, president of the Worcester branch of the NAACP, said she was concerned about the “lack of transparency” regarding the pending closing and added that she hoped there was enough diversity among the staff of the agencies taking over Willis contracts.

William S. Coleman III, a community activist, said public hearings should have been held before the state took action. He said the lack of answers should prompt city officials to ask Gov. Deval Patrick to step in or to get the Worcester delegation on Beacon Hill more actively involved.

Mr. Coleman said the silence about the center contrasted sharply with the discussions and hearings that occurred decades ago when Prospect House failed.

William Breault, chairman of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety, a neighborhood watch group, said he was worried that many of the properties owned by the Willis Center will fall into the hands of the South Middlesex Opportunity Council.

Over the years, Mr. Breault has clashed with the Framingham-based SMOC about the services offered in his neighborhood, including the operation of the People in Peril shelter at 701 Main St.

District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera, a member of the council subcomittee, said she was upset because the state bypassed qualified local agencies that could have picked up some of the Willis Center's contracts in favor of the larger, out-of-town ones.

“This is an extreme injustice,” said the Rev. Jose A. Encarcion, who is Ms. Rivera's husband.

Ms. Lukes said the council will continue to fight for answers but noted there is little municipalities can do when it comes to awarding social services contracts.